Superfast broadband at sea
Inmarsat, the global provider of mobile satellite communications services, will complete another significant milestone in the delivery of its Global Xpress (GX) service with the scheduled launch of the Inmarsat-5 F2 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sunday 1st February.
Inmarsat is investing US$1.6bn in the delivery of Global Xpress, which will create the world’s first globally available, high-speed mobile broadband service, delivered through a single network operator.
The company claims that Global Xpress will deliver broadband speeds more than 100 times faster than the company’s fourth generation (I-4) constellation. It also claims that the new system will offer new opportunities for end-users, in both the public and private sectors, to significantly enhance their connectivity and to access bandwidth-hungry applications, even in the remotest and most inaccessible regions of the world.
The first Global Xpress satellite – Inmarsat-5 F1 – was launched in December 2013 and entered regional commercial service in July 2014, covering Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Inmarsat-5 F2, scheduled for launch on 1st February, will provide superfast broadband Global Xpress or ‘GX’ services covering the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean.
Following the launch of the third Global Xpress satellite – Inmarsat-5 F3 – which is scheduled for early Q2 2015, Inmarsat says it is planning to commence global commercial GX services early in the second half of the year.
By Jake Frith
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